Automobile bumper



Feb. 7, 1928.

F. A. WERNIG AUTOMOBILE BUMPER Filed Oct, 26, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 7, 1928.

F. A. WERNG AUTOMOBILE BUMPER Filed Oct. 26, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENToR /C/'ffaf/c/r A /l/fi/W@ BY M74 q W AT oRNEY Patented Feb. 7, l

@New grimms/PATENT OFFICE.

ltVE/IOV. A.. VIERNFG, F BRGKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'IO NEW' 'WRE & d

SPRTG COIVPLNY, A CORPORATION' OF NEW JERSEY.

This invention relates to improvements in automobile bumpers.

Une of the objects of this invention is.r to produce an automobile bumper of the eX- tended area type which will have incieased inherent shock-cushioning properties combined with great strength and durability; another object is to produce a bumper of eX- tended aiea spring-bar type which will be composed of a minimum number of parts, have a low cost of manufacture and avoid loosely jointed parts to eliminate rattling therefrom; still an-otlier object is to produce from a single bar of resilient metal, such as spring steel7 an impact member which will not only be inherently strong, durable and resilient so as to afford sliock-absorbing properties but will also be extremely neat and ornamental in appearance and will produce an effect similar to but more ornamental than the double or parallel bar bumper; another object of this invention is to provide a bumper which will be capable of effectively cushioning or absorbing shocks of a wide range of intensities varying from the very light shocks encountered frequently in heavy traffic to violent liead-on collisions and to this end to combine a spring bar impact ineinbei having increased -iiiherent shock-cushioning properties lwith a spring rear bar in such a way as to reinforce the mid-section of the impact member while leaving it free so as not to substantially detract from its resilience and consequent capability of properly absorbing relatively light shocks and at the same time to provide such a secondary cushioning effect foi` heavy shocks striking said mid-section as will effectively resist excessive bending and permanent setting of the impact member; another object is to increase the shock-absorbing or cushioning properties of an auxiliary reinforcing member for the central portion of the impact member by connecting the inner ends of the rear bars to a portion intermediate the ends ofthe auxiliary or reinforcing bar so as to provide at each end of the bumper mid-section a pair of reversely-extending shock-cushioning arms, thus forming a secondary cushioning oi pressureresisting system which while effectively cushioning light shocks will prevent collapsing or permanent setting of said impact member under heavy collisions; still another ob- AUTOMOBILE BUMPER.

Application filed October 26.1925. Serial No. 64,715.

cushioning bar.

in which ing my invention;

shown in Fig. l;

Fig. l;

of my invention;

shown in Fig.

Fig. 5;

and auxiliary bar;

Fig. 8;'V and vention.

With these and other o invention comprises the combination of members and arrangement of parts so combined as to co-act and cooperate with each other in the performance of the functions and the accomplishment of the'results herein contei'nplated, and comprises in one of its adaptations the species` or preferred form illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

ject of this invention is to provide an arrangement in which the rear bars, including the spring reinforcing bar ai'e of relatively narrow vertical width and are mounted along the median line of an impacty member of said extended area type and is fastened at its opposite ends thereto to provide a secondary cushioning or pressure resisting member and a resilient fastening element at the centei' of the impact member for the ends of the 'rear' bais; still .another object of the invention is to produce a construction iii which rear bars may be pivot-ally Vconnected to the opposite ends of an impact bar of the typel specified and may also be pivotally connected to the combined reinforcing and shockbjects in view, the

. Fig. l is a plan View of a bumper embody- Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the bumper Fig.' 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of F ig'.

l looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line .1l- 4y of Fig. vis a plan view of a modified form Fig. G is'a front elevation of the bumper i' F ig. 8 is a plan view of another modified form of my invention in which the rear bar is pivotally connected to the impact member F .p9 .is al rear elevation of the bumper showing the attaching 'bars in section;

Fig. l0 is a section on the line lO-l() of F ig. l1 is a plan view of another modified form or the bumper embodying my in- Referring now to these drawings and particularly to Figs. l to 4 thereof, l indicates Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7 7 ofV an impact bar .comprising a resilient metal bar and ineferably a spring steel bar of a` .ralityiv and preferably three elongated openingsorY slots 2, 2l and 2". .These openings 2, 2@ and l2b separate the single piece of material into parallel upper and lower bar scctions or portions 3, Stand also provide integral. end, connecting or stri'lt'p'ortions 5, 5a

and intermediate integral strutportionsr 6,

6a. AThe. bar sections 3, 3C are provided on the .front :face tliereof.with grooves a, l

preferably having thin strips la and lb of `plated metalvinlaid or fitted Iand fastened thereinby rivets ac so as to produce an yornamental effect. f

The opening Qlfis, as shown, arranged at the mid-section of the impact bar and the struts-f6, .6r are positioned midway vbetween thecenterfof-:the bar and the opposite ends tliereoffmw 5.. y

In the preferred embodiment of my yinvention an. auxiliary bar 7 of relatively ynar- .rowfor single-bar lwidth is 4mounted at the rear. of :.the impact member Tl along the .horizontalinedian line thereof and/is spaced therefrom andi-.fastened to said-` impact member at the strut portions 6, 6 by bolts 6b, 6. Asingle .rear `bar is. provided with offset end portions 8, 8a also of single'bar width and is likewise disposed along the median line of the impact bar. Each offset end portion has an'end connected to the said impact member l, and the other. end of each of said offset end portions 8, 8a has a connection with the said auxiliary reinforcing bar 7 intermediate the ends thereof. The ends 7a, 7b of said reinforcing auxiliaryv bar extend forwardlyr and outwardly from the rear oft'- Y set end portions and are fastened by said bolts 6b, 6? to the. impact member at said strut portions 6, 6a.

'Said impact bar ispreferably slightly .bowed .fromvend to end and has at opposite ends loops 9, 9a to the ends of which loops the rear offset ends 8, 8a are, as aforesaid, connected. The rear supporting bars are connected. to the automobile chassis inthe -nsual manner by supporting bracket bars l0, lOfL fastened to said chassis in any suit- .able way such as by bolts Vor screws not shown. I

lt will be seen that in this construction of bumper, theimpact member will not only be greatly reinforced and the cushioning effect greatly increased at the mid-section so as to prevent a permanent setting thereof in case of a violent collision but the inherent resilience which is necessary to properly cushion light shocks will not be materially aected because of the arrangement of the members lthrough which such increased cushioning eifect is obtained.. Thus shocks striking the impact member at the midsection will first be resisted by the inherent sprintf of the impact member. if the shock isgreater than can be properlyr cushioned by said impact member. alone, it will then heresisted first by the ontwardlybent arms of the reinforcing member and then bythe iiat. bar portion. lf the shock is gstill ,not i lly absorbed it will; tlieii` .be further resisted bythe back bars.

In ligse to Y, I have shown a modiiied form of myV invention, in which, instead, of

the auxiliary bar i', therear supporting.bar` li is provided with an integral shock cush.

ioningl portion ll arranged at the mid-sec` tion of and spaced from the impact member l. 'The ends of the cushioning portion l1a are connected to the impactV memberA at the strut portions, ,6F in a manner similar to the connectionof the auxiliary bar 7 .in Figs. i to Ll above specified. The spacing of the cushioning portion .lla of the rear bar enables the impact barto maintain its resilil ence at the mid-section and also produces a cushioning eijfect though not of the same degree asthe use of the auxiliary bar shown in Figs. l to 4. In other respects, the modiied form shown in Figs. .5 to 7.- is Vsubstan- -tially simi-lar -to the construction shown in Figs. l to a., y

ln Fics. 8 to l0, l have shown another modied form of my invention in which an auxiliary reinforcing bar Zxis mounted on and fastened to the impact member in all respects similar to the bar 7 hereinabove described in. relation to Figs. l to Said bar is, however7 pivotally connected intermediate its ends to ends of two rear bars 8 which are also pivotally connected at their opposite ends to the ends of the. impact member. The auxiliary bar, 7 is au ranged at the rear the impact member along the horizontal median line in substan- .tially the same relationship asf'shown in Figs. l to 4. As illustrated,l the opposite ends ot the impact member are'looped similarly to thoseshownlin said other ligures and each ofsaid ends is then provided-with knuckle-joints comprising a pair of eyes l2 and a notch between such eyes. An end of each of the supporting` bars 8is similarly provided with eye 8c and arranged in the notch l. between the knuckle-joints or eyes aiid'a king-bolt 8. is slipped through the three eyes to retainthe parts together :at each end. The auxiliary bar is connected to the rear bars at :its middle portion' and for this ypurpose apivot plate in the form of a short channel 14 is mounted, as shown, by rivets at the middle of said bar 7 The horizontal flanges 14b of the channel 14 have pairs of registering holes 14C, 14d. The opposite ends of the rear bars 8 are provided with eyes 8e fitting between the flanges of said channel bar and king bolts 16, 16 are passed tlnough said registering holes to pivotally connect the bars together.

In Fig. 11, I have shown another modilied form of my invention in which the impact member 1 is in all respects similar to that shown in Figs. l to 4 but in which double rear supporting bars 1T have reversed turns or loops 18 adjacent to the center of the impact member, the ends of which reversed loops 18 are connected to the impact bar at the said intermediate strut portions, thus reinforcing the impact bar at the sections thereof at opposite sides of the middle thereof and in which the said strut portions are positioned or located.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. An automobile bumper embodying, in combination, an impact member of increased vertical width comprising a single bar of spring metal having in its front face a plurality of parallel grooves and thin ornamental strips of metal of constrasting color inlaid within said grooves and fastened to said impact member to simulate a plurality of separated parallel bars.

2. An automobile bumper embodying, in combination, an impact member of increased vertical width comprising a single bar of spring metal having between its upper and lower edges a plurality of elongated openings separating the major portion of the impact member into upper and lower bar-sections simulating in appearance twin parallel spaced bars, grooves in the front faces of each of such upper and lower bar-sections and a pair of thin strips of a metal of contrasting color inlaid within said grooves and fastened to said impact member.

3. An automobile bumper embodying, in combination, an impact member of increased vertical width comprising a single bar of spring metal provided at opposite ends with integral resilient loops `and having between its upper and lower edges a plurality of elon- `gated openings separating the major portion of the impact member into upper and lower bar-sections simulating in appearance twin parallel spaced bars.

4. An automobile bumper embodying, in combination, an impact member of increased vertical width comprising a single relatively wide bar of spring metal provided at opposite ends with integral resilient loops and having between its upper and lower edges a plurality of 'elongated openings separating the major portion of the impact member into upper and lower bar-sections simulating in appearance twin parallel spaced bars, and

relatively rigid rear-bar portions connected adjacent tothe ends of said integral resilient loops.

5. `.An automobile bumper embodying, in combination, an impact member of increased vertical width con'iprfsing a single bar of spring metal provided atopposite ends with integral resilient loops and having between its upper and lower edges a plurality of elongated openings separating the major portion of the impact member into upper and lower 'bar-sections simulating in appearance twin parallel spaced bars, vgrooves in the front faces of each of such upper and lower baia sections and a pair of thin strips of a metal of contrasting color inlaid within said grooves and fastened to said impact member. 6. An automobile bumper embodying, in combination, an impact member of increased vertical width comprising a single bar of spring metal providedat opposite ends with integral resilient loops and having between its upper and lower edges a. plurality of elongated, openings separating the major portion of the impact member into upper and lower double-bar sections simulating in appearance twin parallel spaced bars, said openings being arranged to provide integral strut portions connecting the upper and lower bar-sections and positioned between the center of the impact member and the opposite ends thereof, and rear bars of singlebar width connected to said strut portions.

7. An automobile bumper embodying, in combination, an impact member of increased vertical width comprising a single bar of spring metal provided at opposite ends with integral resilient loops and having between its upper and lower edgesa plurality of elongated openings separating the major portion of the impact member into upper and lower double-bar sections simulating in appearance twin parallel spaced bars, said openings being arranged to provide integral strut portions connecting the upper and lower bar-sections and positioned between the center of the impact member and the opposite ends, said bar sections having grooves in the front face thereof and thin strips of metal fitted within said grooves, and rear bars of single-bar width connected to said strut portions. f

8. An automobile bumper embodying, in

combination, an impact member of increased vertical width comprising a single bar of spring steel provided at opposite ends with integral resilient loops and having between its upper and lower edges a series of elongated openings along the horizontal median line of the bar, said openings being arranged to provide integral strut portions connecting the upper and lower bar sections and positioned at opposite sides of the center vof said impact member, an auxiliary reinforcing member extending horizontally along the mid-eectionoiA the impact member and having its opposite ende fastened to said strut portionsI at the opposite ends of Said opening and a rear-bar member' connected to the end loops of the impact member and to said auxiliary reinforcing` member. n

9. An automobile bumper embodying, in con'ibinatfon, an impact member comprisingl a single bar of spring steel provided at opposite ends with integral resilient loops and having between its upper and lower edges a series of elongated openings along the hori- Zontal median line of the bar, Said openings; being arranged .to provide integral strut portions connecting the upper andlower bar sections and positioned at opposite sides of thel center or' said impact member, an anX- ihary reinforcing member extending hori- 'rnnnnnioir A. WERNIG. 

